think a failure was announcing to the taliban the day you were going to withdraw. while they might not have watches, they do have calendars. it makes it difficult to negotiate with someone or to drive them away if they know that only have to hide for a certain time and then can come back because you are gone. i think that was a mistake. i think it was a mistake not to oversee the elections, the government elections, to make sure they were held in a way that had public confidence in a government that was not corrupt. i think there are some lessons learned. we have been there 10 years. it is time for the afghan people to take responsibility for preserving the independence which has been fought for so valiantly by our soldiers. our men and women have made extraordinary sacrifices there, and other places in the history of this great nation. we want to see the afghans pick up the responsibility for the effort that goes forward. the determination of when to pull our troops out should come with the input of the generals and the leaders on the ground. i think the president should listen mo

afghan led political entitlement. the death of bin laden presents the taliban with a moment of choice. al qaeda are weakened. their leader is dead. last month the u n adopted two separate sanctions regimes creating a clear distinction to separate taliban from al qaeda. local peace councils havbeen established in almost all afghanistan's provinces allow 1800 people from 17 provinces to be enrolled for reintegration. we should take this opportunity to send a clear message to the taliban that now is the time to break al qaeda and participate in a peaceful political process. in this task we need pakistan's assistance. as i discussed last week as much in pakistan's interest as britain or afghanistan. the taliban pose a more wolf read to the states of pakistan as well. mr. speaker there is no reason afghanistan should be destined to remain a broken country. it has fertile agricultural land and stands at the crossroads of asia's training program. it has succeeded in the past when not wracked by conflict. afghanistan has many challenges ahead. there are security issues and lack of government capa

network has taken credit for it, if that's the word, and they are associated with the taliban, and at the same time we know the u.s. is reaching out to the taliban for peace talks in the future. do you see any signs the taliban is ready to talk peace? >> there has been no signs whatsoever. when the taliban are ready to talk peace it will be when they are convinced they cannot achieve their goals on the battlefield. we have had enormous success over the past year and i should have mentioned that earlier in the conversation, and we have taken out a lot of the mid-level taliban operating in afghanistan. one of the big problems is pakistan and a lot of the leadership resides in pakistan. we have to have a realistic assessment of the true assessment in pakistan, because there's no doubt that there is connections between isi and the aconnie network who are responsible not only for the hotel tragedy there, but also for the attacks on americans and our allies. and that's not acceptable. >> to libya now. we have seen in the middle east and elsewhere that often when there is the removal of a le

than at any time since 9/11. >> reporter: still this deadly taliban raid on a hotel in kabul last week shows insurgents aren't willing to go quietly. >> if we don't succeed here and the taliban comes back into power we'll be attacked again. >> reporter: while the debate continues, american troops are carrying on with their mission preparing to hand over security back to the afghan people, the drawdown is set to begin this month. terrell, some initial diplomatic moves have been made to jumpstart peace talks with the taliban but on his trip senator mccain saw no signs whatsoever the taliban is ready to talk peace. >> joel brown in washington thank you so much. >>> overseas, thailand elected its first ever female prime minister by a landslide, comes from a political family, her brother was once prime minister but ousted in a military coup in 2006. the country will go along with the election results. >>> peace activists plan to sail from greece today even though the greek government banned their ships from going to gaza. protests at the israeli embassy in athens. last year nine activists w

, there is a lot of open combat. this is the headquarters of the taliban. >> in the east the violence depends on where you are. these to have strong relationships with kabul, with a lot of traffic. today, these are what i call, bombing galleries, where the coalition troops and a large coalition presence is trying very hard to like this town in order to protect this. but every step that they take, they are threatened. thousands every year, that are killing hundreds of native troops, and many times the number of afghans. as we move closer to the border, and you had se, the threat will change. this is not so much ied's because there is less vehicle traffic. the coalition soldiers and the taliban will move on foot. the coalition has helicopters, but then they are back to walking around on foot. this is a lot less useful and they are optimized for -- in places like this you see more small arms fire, lots of snipers. this looks like a street battle in world war two, on a smaller scale. people throwing grenades and things like this. on the coalition side, there is a great air power, when it

the taliban in pakistan and afghanistan. osama bin laden has been killed and al qaeda is significantly weakened. in afghanistan british and international forces have driven al qaeda from its bases and while it is too early to tell for certain initial evidence suggests we halted the momentum of the taliban insurgency in its heartland. mr. speaker, we are entering a new phase in which the afghan forces will do more of the fighting and patrolling and our forces training and mentoring. as president obama said last month the mission is changing from, that to support. when we arrived there was no one to hand over to. no proper army or police. in many places across the country the afghan security forces now stand ready to begin the process of taking over security responsibility. success in afghanistan requires a number of critical steps. the first is making sure the afghan security forces are able to secure their own territory. there have been well known problems especially with the afghan police but there has been real progress in the last two years. general david petraeus went

hood was stopped. >> schieffer: all right, thank you so much, bob. the taliban has declared open season on politicians in afghanistan. 70,000 workers are furloughed because congress can't agree on funding for a federal agency. and why traffic cameras have caused so much trouble in los angeles when the cbs news continues. [ male announcer ] it has an hd webcam, killer audio, and lids that switch to start every semester fresh. but mostly it helps me try new moves on and off the court. ♪ [ male announcer ] powered by the 2nd gen intel core processor family. not just smart. visibly smart. get an inspiron 15r with 6 gig memory and 640 gig hard drive for $599.99 at dell.com. and 640 gig hard drive ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪ [ whistles ] ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪ [ ting! ] [ male announcer ] travelers can help you protect the things you care about and save money with multi-policy discounts. are you getting the coverage you need and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage or visit travelers.com. discover customersl are getting five percent cashback bonus at the pump... a

quietly. >> if we don't succeed here and the taliban comes back into power, we will be attacked again. >> reporter: while the debate continues, american troops are going on with their mission, preparing to hand over security to the american people. the drawdown will begin this month. joel brown, cbs news, washington. >>> in the district, the annual 4th of july celebration on the national mall. the concert has stars like matthew morrison and chelsea hightower. . >> it is the big 20th anniversary. we are doing a rumba to jordan sparks singing a song from beauty and the beast. >> the show will be at 9:00 tonight. here's a few other things to know. no alcohol is allowed. leave the grills, pets, and glass bottles at home. as far as getting there, the best way is public transportation, and if you're going to the mall, leave this morning if you want a good seat. we have a full list of activities including all of those dos and don'ts for the mall on wusa9.com. >>> german town man is charged with murdering. police say brandon dashiell and justin carter got into a fight on the back deck o

is to basically end al qaeda and get the taliban under control so it doesn't go back to what it was in the past and to create a stability there so they don't threaten us in the future. so that doesn't become again the breeding ground for a tax on america the way it was in 2001. we're not there yet. afghanistan is a state of chaos and confusion, not in a state where we can honestly say in good conscience that we've put it in a situation where we don't need to be there in order to protect ourself. and here's what i think has been a big lack of leadership. somebody's got to explain to the american people that we need to be in that region of the world for the indefinite future. without time limits. far more effective would be you put in the truth, you don't tell anybody when you're going to leave. we leave when he accomplish our objective. >> a final domestic question. in the next couple weeks the first same-sex marriages will take place legally in new york. you have always said that you were for civil unions but that you thought marriage was between a man and a woman. >> and i still be

money. >>> in the line of fire. cnn is embedded with u.s. troops in afghanistan when the taliban attack. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. a special gathering to tackle america's serious economic problems. key figures from government, business and academia came together this week in chicago for the clinton global might be difference america conference. the event was the brainchild of former president bill clinton. i sat down with him in chicago for a candid interview on the country's debt crisis, the 2012 presidential race, and much more. >> mr. president, thanks very much for joining us. good to be here. first time you've done this as far as the u.s. economy is concerned. normally it's global issues. and i want to get to that, but let's talk about some of the big issues right now. jobs, jobs, jobs. it's a crisis, a game of chicken going on in washington right now between the president, the did democrats on one side, republican leadership on the other side. how big of a deal is this august 2nd

projectile, that results in the american troops and have given long-range rockets to taliban in afghanistan and increasing the insurgents' ability to hit u.s. and coalition positions from a safer position." in june, 14 u.s. service members were killed in combat in iraq and officials attribute the death to militias trained by the iran revolutionary guard. senator, what do we do about iran? >> well, i think people need to understand why iran is doing this. the biggest nightmare for the ayatollah in iran is to have a democracy in iraq and afghanistan on their borders. so, yes, they are helping the taliban and trying to react to bring down the iraqi democracy and trying to undermine the efforts here. they're responsible for material coming in both countrys killing not only the american soldiers but the iraqi and afghan people. they are helping assad in syria. i hope people understand what iran is up to. their biggest nightmare is that the arab spring is successful, that we can pull off iraq and afghanistan in terms of representative democracy. they are going to fight to the bitter e

is an american, who joined the taliban and is a prominent publicist in some of the al qaeda videos recently told americans to take up a jihad against the united states by going to gun shows and purchasing weapons there. he made the point that many critics of gun control policy have made that guns are easily available there. i think his wording is, "it is well known, so go out there and arm up." mayor michael bloomberg is against guns. he is a member of one of the groups that was spearheading that movement. host: next up from alabama on the independent line. you are on "washington journal." caller: good morning. i would like to comment about guns on college campuses. there was a time in this country when you had high school students with guns in their lockers so they could go to rotc after school. it was not uncommon that a little boy did not have a knife in his show. i am not suggesting a correlation between the two, but crime is higher now than it was then. i am not certain it is all a matter of gun control, but rather as a democracy. we have a certain level of self governance of

the taliban that mattered enormously to them. >> reporter: he warns that gains here are fragile, but ever the good soldier he says he supports president obama's plan to withdraw thousands of americans in the coming months. >> the commander in chief has made a decision, and we fully support that decision. we'll do everything we possibly can to implement it successfully. that's our job, and that's indeed what we will do. >> it was great just to have him show that, you know, he's still committed to what we're doing here even though we all know he's fixing to leave us. >> reporter: a popular, politically savvy, four-star general leaving afghanistan for washington, trading one tough job for another. nbc news, ka cull. >>> the royal newlyweds william sxa and kate head for california later this week. today they stopped at prince edward island where the crowds went wild for the couple as they were escorted by the canadian mounted police. the prince got behind the controls of a canadian forces sea king helicopter and they competed against one another in a boat race. in the end we're told will

one of his close advisers as well as a member of parliament, taliban is claiming responsibility. it comes less than a week after the assassination of karzai's half brother. >>> some terrifying moments in canada when a sudden and violent storm caused the main stage at an ottawa blues festival to completely collapse. look at that there. the performing band cheap trick managed to escape unharmed but at least five stage volunteers were hurt. one seriously. >>> well, first it was mila kunis, then justin timberlake, now 90-year-old actress betty white has been invited to the marine corps ball. in a youtube ball ray lewis called the legendary "golden girl" funny, sweet and mature, the all-around perfect woman. where there's a good story, there's always betty white. it always works out that way. >>> here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12479 after gaining 42 points on friday. the s&p rose 7 points. nasdaq climbed 27. >>> taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo, the nikkei added 38 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 7

/situationroom. from pakistan, a very graphic video released by taliban showing 16 men being executed. >> this is a graphic look at how brutal and ugly the war against the taliban can get. some of you may find this very disturbing. if you would like to turn away, this is a good time to do so. let's walk you through this video. it was released by the taliban, posted online. men wearing traditional pakistani garb, all of them with their hands tied behind their back. in front of them, you see three armed men, you assume these are taliban fighters. one of them is scolding the men who are lined up, accusing them of being enemies of islam, saying these executions are about to take place for six children. the military here vehemently denies those excuses took place. after the scolding is over, that's when you see and hear the gunfire. you see the men topple to the ground, some of them moaning and writhing in pain. we're not going so show you what happened next. some of the gunmen walk up to the men and shoot them again, sometimes in an effort too make sure they're dead. the military believes

. the assassination of kandahar's mayor was the third killing in the last two weeks. the taliban has claimed responsibility for all three attacks. >>> libyan rebels received a diplomatic boost today with recognition from great britain. the conflict there in libya has gone under the public's radar recently because of more pressing economic concerns here in washington. but national cute correspondent jennifer griffin tells us -- national security correspondent jennifer griffin tells the nato mission is still unaccomplished. >> this is a video broadcast on libya state television tuesday of the pan am lockerbie bomber rallying support for libyan leader muammar qaddafi in downtown tripoli. the lockerbie bomber was released on compassionate grounds by a scottish judge two years ago, because he was reportedly dying of cancer. but he's still standing, as is muammar qaddafi, five months after the start of an operation the white house said would be brief. >> i said at the outset, this was going to be a matter of days and not weeks. >> it's no longer costly american tomahawk missiles being used

rough. the coalition troops and the taliban moved on foot. the coalition also has helicopters that can get them between mountain tops. they would be back to walking around on foot. these are law that useful. -- a lot less useful. they are used for blowing up vehicles. in some places, you see more small arms. this sort of looks like a world war ii street battle on a smaller scale. guys running around with rifles and tossing grenades, things like that. on the coalition side, there is a significant air power aspect of it as well. the tactical security threats to nato troops. >> this is located in the far most peace which is a ride along the border. this is a critical area for cross border infiltration as well as a historic avenue and the movement of supplies. >> in terms of the risk to u.s. troops, how would you characterize this? >> i would characterize this as high as venture. there is a significant influx of insurgent fighters to the area. >> we are prepared to go on a mission, tell me about that and what it is for. >> this is a standard reconnaissance mission. we're going in there

radicals connected to terrorists like al qaeda or the taliban, or the muslim brotherhood. in egypt, for instance, right now, and tunisia and other countries in the middle east, we do not know who is going to be in charge. we are talking about supporting various governments, when they have an election. until we see what happens in the elections, we should not be giving money to those who are sympathetic in working with terrorist organizations in do not have our interests at stake. or want to destroy the state of israel. so, right now, for instance, in egypt the barrier between egypt and gaza has been broken down, in effect. hamas, in control of gaza right now, can bring in more weapons to attack israel. a signal that really bothers me, because it indicates to the muslim but -- brotherhood that they have more influence than people realize. in the past they have asked for the destruction of israel. and host: the muslim brotherhood is not considered a terrorist group. guest: if you look at their history, they have been committed to changes in the middle east, including the downfall and

they had in afghanistan when they had the harboring government of the taliban? >> i couldn't agree more with michael. and i'd actually go a step further to say not only is he right that they have now expanded geographically and have multiple launch points for operations but if we step back and look at that map you'll see it lays over very nicely with what we're witnessing with the arab spring. we're also witnessing a dysfunctional nato operation both in afghanistan as well as in libya that leads to openings for al qaeda there. as michael points out, they in each one of those countries are seeing instability that can be exploited. and let's step back and look at what we learned from the bin laden treasure trove, which is essentially that al qaeda was much more centrally controlled than many in the intelligence community thought and i thought and many in the chertoff group. but what it shows is the old guard, what we'll call central a.q., al qaeda, was basically trying to force the young guard to follow their past performance, which is to do these long, multiyear planning attacks for

segment we take you inside a secretive flds community that one investigator compares to the taliban. imagine that. right here in the united states. first let's check in with isha sesay. >> reporter: game show host alex trebek isn't just on jeopardy, he's also talking about the terrifying moments when he was in jeopardy. we'll tell you about his run in with a burglar and what happened when he gave chase. that and much more when 360 continues. [ male announcer ] this is the network. a network of possibilities. excuse me? my grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. ♪ ooh baby, (what) can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance? align can help. only align

compares to the taliban. imagine that. right here in the united states. first let's check in with isha sesay. >> reporter: game show host alex trebek isn't just on jeopardy, he's also talking about the terrifying moments when he was in jeopardy. we'll tell you about his run in with a burglar. that and more when anderson cooper 360 continues. call her. ok. [ cellphone rings ] hey. you haven't left yet. no. i'm boarding now... what's up? um...would you mind doing it again? last time. [ engine turns over ] oooohhhh...sweet. [ male announcer ] the chevy cruze with the my chevrolet app. the remote control car is finally here. well, now she's just playing with us. oh. [ horn honks ] somewhere in america, a city comes to life. it moves effortlessly, breathes easily. it flows with clean water. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city people want to live and work in. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest questions. and the over sixty thousand people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. consti

-election nextyer. >>> in kabul, afghanistan, the taliban claimed responsibility for killing a senior advisor to president karzai and says two suicide bombers killed kahn at his home. he was a former regional governor. he is the latest member of karzai's inner circle to be killed. just a week ago the president's half-brother was killed. >>> in tripoli, nato warplanes bombed warehouses being used by forces loyal to moammar gadhafi. >> additional early morning airstrikes were carried out on gaddafi forces in brega. >>> in jerusalem, israeli firefighters are gretting the upper hand on bush fryers that came within a few hundred feet of the holocaust memorial and museum. employees and visitors had to be evacuated. investigators say the fire appears to be caused by arson, because it started in several locations at the same time. >>> casey anthony walked out of a florida jail, past a crowd of angry demonstrators. a jury convicted the 25-year- old of lying to investigators, but found her not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter. she dodged reporters in the crowd and since has dropped out

several years ago. i's probably not the taliban. it's the history. the flow of the country. having dinner with a young marine corps captain, they said if they removed every weapon from the taliban and cleansed every village of a weapon, they would throw rocks at us. they don't want us there. it's time to come home. >> john heilman, you are chasing them across america in this decade long war in afghanistan. are they talking about it? do they care about it? are they focused on it? do they talk? >> more of the latter than the former. people generally talk about it in the aspect of being asked about it. it's not on the top five list of voters. >> any presidential candidates? >> you have to have a position on it. what's interesting is because the public turned decisively against the wars. >> what does michele bachmann say? she's a tea party candidate. what does she say ability the war? >> she's been relatively silent on the issue. it's been among the main street candidates. mitt romney -- >> huntsman. >> huntsman and romney taking a position that surprise people. it suggested that he wa

to the taliban? well, it's a little confusing but it has to do with a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the united states has to promote afghan businesses and within that, in the fine print somewhere could be that your tax dollars will fund the taliban. >> in particular, a whole bunch of money is going to fund trucking operations across afghanistan to get military supplies different places and it sounds like a lot of the money that we are giving these eight various trucking companies somehow winds up and we have tracked the money. it goes from our coffers directly through big shots in the afghanistan government and winds up in the pockets of the insurgents. >> we usually do that in iraq. we did it through private contractors. this time we want to try to build up the local economy by hiring local afghans that have affiliations with the local taliban that pay off the taliban not to attack the american stuff. >> why don't we just pay the taliban directly? >> might as well be. it's our money. it's $2.16 billion has gone into the pockets of the taliban, petraeus put a commissio

taking away of important safe haivens inside afghanistan from the taliban. there's clearly tough work and fighting that lies ahead. i repeatedly said while the progress is significant, for example, it remains fragile and reversible. >>> general david patreaus spending his eighth fourth of july and his last as commander of allied forces in afghanistan visiting the troops in the southern part of that country yesterday. welcome back to morning joe, pat buchanan and gerald ford with us. best-selling author and wes moore, good to have you on the show this morning. patreaus will start the new job as director of the cia in september. he talks about the hard work ahead. the changes in the troops. any gut feeling about how that will transpire? >> one transition we'll see is as we're leaving the 10,000 and the 20,000, how that's going to change in terms of troop alignment and geoloe geography. we'll see a shift towards the east to the pakistan border. that's where i spent my time. we're starting to see a lot of the flow from fighters coming from pakistan. >> let me ask you, drawn down 33,000 troops

the taliban and network they can go to a target right in the heart of the capital. if the karzai forces we've been training up can't defend -- they responded well in the emergency, we're told, but if they can't respond in kabul, isn't that a signal it's going to be a long haul, and maybe there is no legacy end of the tunnel? >> i think the reset of our afghan policy last week by the president was correct. i think it was long in coming. i was never a fan of the surge or the counterinsurgency doctrine. karzai is not a willing partner. last week this mumbai style shooting attack, it could have been worse. i would give the afghans a little credit, but it was staged by the hakani gnat wornetwork, protected group, protected by the pakistani government. that group comes over the border regularly, kills our troops and obviously now is prepared to shoot at big targets in afghanistan. it's a bad signal about how ready the pakistanis are to confront terror networks in their own country. >> jane harman from the woodrow wilson center, thank you very much. >>> and up next here, the arab uprisi

stories. u.s. cash said to be reaching the taliban, yearlong military that investigation concluded u.s. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the taliban under 2.1 $6 billion transportation contacted the u.s. has funded in part to promote afghan business. another piece in international news, the u.s. has invited a north korean official to new york for talks. the vice foreign minister will visit for a rare meeting that could pave the way for resumption of multinational denuclearization talks secretary of state clinton said on sunday. and politics, congressman wu faces calls to step down print reports the democratic u.s. representative and the portland, oregon area, calls for his resignation from some in his own party after the state's largest newspaper published reports this week in of an alleged unwanted advances in november by a mr.wu for the young, california woman, the daughter of a longtime supporter. one last jury in politics from the washington times politics section, dnc targeting hispanic votes with 8 spanishad. both parties are adding spanish- language tv ads. as pres

difference. we have handed the taliban a tactical defeat in the south, as significant as what we have done in 2001 when we first went into the country and very, very dramatic and the challenge we have is this president's decision to scale the forces down so significantly, by september of next year, puts that -- those gains at risk, and, also, puts at risk what we are trying to do in the east, next year between kabul and the pakistani border. >> jamie: sounds like the way you are describing it, we are on track. >> we're on track but i'm concerned, the forces coming up so quickly will put the mission at risk and remains to be seen whether we can accomplish the mission, and i don't like saying it but that is the truth. >> jamie: what about leadership? i have read reports and you can certainly tell me, whether it's is true or not, that hamid karzai is really not in control. we have seen a family member of his and also some people in the administration, there, be assassinated. >> look, karzai is what he is. i mean, there's a central government in afghanistan but it is a power broker, patron age

a failure was announcing to the taliban the dates you are going to withdraw because while they may not have watches they do have calendars and it makes it very difficult to negotiate with someone or to drive into the bargaining table or drive them away if they know they only have to hide out for certain period of time and they can come back in because you were gone. i think that was a mistake on his part. i think it was a mistake not to oversee the elections in such a way the government elections, to make sure they were held in a way that had public confidence in a government that was not corrupt and was focused on getting the country back on its feet. >> i think there are some lessons learned. one is that we have been there 10 years and it is time for the afghan people to be able to take responsibility for preserving the independence which has been fought for so valiantly by our soldiers. our men and women have made extraordinary sacrifices they are and frankly and other places in the history of this great nation. we do want to see the afghans pick up the responsibility for the ef

afghanistan. he takes over the c.i.a. in september and expects the taliban surge and that could mean an al-qaida resurgence. >> that task has been accomplished but, of course, it is threatened because, of course, the taliban allowed al-qaida on afghan soil when it ran the country. and we believe that there's a high likelihood that would happen again. >> petraeus also expects the u.s. to shift its focus from taliban strong holds in the south to the mountainous border with pakistan. the comments come weeks after president obama announced plans to withdraw more than 30,000 troops by the end of next year. an explosive show over the national mall, revelers got to enjoy this display in what better place, the nation's capital. the celebrations weren't just here in america. over in afghanistan, the marines chowed down on some delicious barbecue. that is it look good. >> almost like famous dave's. almost, yeah. almost. >> like famous dave petraeus. >> famous dave petraeus who is counting down the days. especially july 4th. senator mccain and senator graham. >> i think general petraeus is really

afghanistan and who you guys believe might have been responsible for it, the taliban claimed responsibility and whether or not you think there's an increase in social security? >> well, i would say, obviously, that this is at a personal level. we are -- our prayers and sympathies are with the karzai family during this difficult time. the united states condemned in the strongest possible terms the murder of president karzai's half brother in kandahar. we obviously -- we don't know who's responsible. there's been some claims. we will certainly work with the afghan authorities on that. but the -- right now i think the moment here is one. it's a personal one. we express our condolences and condemn the murder. chris? >> some questions on "don't ask, don't tell" the 9th circuit issued an order barring the discussion on the law. is the president aware of the decision? >> is he aware of it? >> i'm sure he heard the news. >> the justice department is reviewing the order. i ill point you to further information. the president's decision on "don't ask, don't tell" on the repeal is clear.

bargain with the taliban over whether girls should be allowed to attend school." that's a pretty stark comparison, i admit, and i may not have gone that far, but frankly our republican brethren seem to hold to their ideology almost religiously. they see all things in black and white. they act as though they believe that those who disagree with that ideology are either unpatriotic or heretics and that the only truth is their truth. what they have forgotten is that negotiating with those with whom we disagree and reaching a compromise is what good governance is all about. the other falsehood here is spending is not a democratic value, as our friends on the other side would have us believe. it is a republican reality. it was the reckless spending of republicans combined with a reckless tax policy and an ideology that let wall street run wild, turning a free market into a free-for-all market that brought us to where we are today. let's remember it wasn't long ago that the budget was, in fact, balanced during another democratic administration, when we had budget surpluses as far as the eye

been working as a guard with the international security assistance forces against the taliban. the provencial government received training from the isaf and was one of the most trusted commanders for the karzais. mohammad was shot dead by other guards after he killed ahme ahmed wali karzai on tuesday. hugo chavez is expected to travel to brazil for cancer treatment. chavez said the next phase of his treatment could require radiation and chemotherapy. the type of cancer is that that sha krez is battling is und undisclos undisclosed. he says despite his illness, he's still in charge of his country. >> he got initial treatment in cuba, now he's going to brazil. what's wrong with the doctors in venezuela? >> i think he wants probably the best for his money. and we certainly know he has a lot of money. >> it's a vote of no confidence inform venezuela but a vote of confidence for cuba and brazil. >> we don't know of the kind of cancer he has. >> i guess when his life is at stake, he's willing to go ahead and deal with that kind of situation. thank very much. credit agencies are warning o

they had a number of problems a number of years ago, rising taliban. are we putting those remaining troops at risk? are we going to see higher casualty counts as a result? >> it's likely. the commanders still have the mission to win and they will go about that task as we speak. they're looking at all the options and there are creatives ways they can do that. but with those kind of numbers leaving, they are frankly going to ask our troops to do more with less. that will drive up casualties as a result of this. i just wonder if that was ever given a consideration when these options were being looked at and the commanders' recommendations were being ignored. >> may not send the right message to our troops, but you would like to send a special message to our troops on this fourth of july. what is that? >> thanks for that opportunity. we're the oldest democracy in the world and the rest of the world looks to us as a model for freedom and democracy. this has come at some sacrifice to us and the american people to preserve our liberties and our values. our troops out there today are doing

afghanistan to get the taliban out, get al qaeda out and to get osama bin laden. we got osama bin laden. al qaeda is no longer in afghanistan. and the taliban is gone. so what are we still doing there? why are we still there? why are we still spending about $14 billion a month in afghanistan? so, mr. president, again, we need a balanced approach. spending cuts alone won't do the job. i think the kweupbdz have -- i think the republicans have just proved this. republicans have proved that spending cuts alone will not get the job done. how do i say that? look at the republican budget, the so-called ryan budget. it dismandate also medicare, guts medicaid, makes severe cuts across the federal budget. yet it still adds trillions of dollars to the federal deficit for years to come largely because it refuses to touch tax breaks for the well-to-do or to raise other revenues from corporations. well, mr. president, the republicans have said they don't want to raise taxes on so-called job creators. they don't want to raise taxes on job creators. well, to call trust fund millionaires and wall street mon

afghanistan. >> reporter: he spent much of 2002 and 3:00 near kandahar, hunting for taliban. he came back to harvard, but in 2009 with the national guard unit, he went back to afghanistan. >> whoa! >> damn! >> i spent a lot of time with rout clearance units looking for ieds and we got hit several times and vehicles in front of me blown up. my vehicle never got hit. i was very, very lucky. when you run up there and pull open the door and see your injured buddies, you'll never forget that site. >> reporter: this time, back home, he began to explore the science of brain injury. >> what happens when the brain gets hit by a blast wave and slams up against the inside of the skull. >> reporter: with colleagues at northeastern university, parker built new tools to study how a blast affects the brain. it could be years before this leads to new treatments, but parker hopes that eventually will have a broad impact. >> concussions that your favorite football player suffers or the head injury you get when you're in a car accident and your head snaps forward or a shaking baby syndrome. these are all ex

going to afghanistan. we got the taliban out of power. karzai stood for free elections in 2004. al qaeda was dismantled and sent into western pakistan. this is not a nation-building exercise. this is a counter-terror exercise. we do not need 100,000 troops on the ground of the cost we're paying today in order to get the job done. [applause] thank you. i am here to tell you the future of the united states is not going to be determined in the prairies of afghanistan. the future of the united states is going to be determined by how well-prepared we are to compete in a highly competitive 21st century. that battle will be waged across the pacific ocean. we have some work to do. as you walk out of this building, i want you to remember why we're in this race. it is because it is about the generation and we're about to pass the country to and the condition in which they will find it. my priorities will be debt and spending. we have no choice. trajectory we're on is unsustainable. launching a new industrial revolution is within our grasp. it has happened before. we're optimistic and can do

the surge was a big success. i think a failure was announcing to the taliban we were going to withdraw. while they may not have watches, they do have calendars. [laughter] you drive them away if they know they only have to hideout for a certain time. i think of -- i think that was a mistake on his part. i think he should have made sure that the public elections were held in such a way that there was public confidence. i think there are lessons learned. one is, we have been there 10 years. id is time for the afghan people to be able to take responsibility -- it is time for the afghan people to take responsibility for there own safety that has been fought for so valiantly by our soldiers. we do want to see the afghans pick up the responsibility for the effort that goes for word. in the determination of when to pull our troops out should come as a result of the input of the people closest to the battlefield, the generals and the leaders on the ground. at the president should be listening more to them as david cameron in the u.k. did. >> i know you do not agree with the method we